Continuous belts are commonly used for conveying various elements. One common type of belt is a continuous belt that is extruded. Frequently, such belts are extruded from flexible materials, such as thermoplastic materials. One shortcoming of such belts is that the belts have a tendency to stretch during use. As the belt stretches, it tends to slip, thereby reducing the driving force of the conveyor. Further, the weight of the item to be conveyed is related to the tension in the belt. Specifically, as the weight increases, the tension in the belt needs to be increased to minimize slippage between the belt and the drive elements. The increased tension in the belt increases the tendency of the belt to stretch, which in turn increases the likelihood of the belt slipping.
Over the years a number of attempts have been made to overcome the problem of belt stretch. The primary solution has been to embed an item in the belt that has a relatively high tensile strength and resistance to stretching. For instance, polyester fibers are commonly formed in conveyor belts. The polyester fibers are less likely to stretch, and therefore the resulting belt has less likelihood of stretching than the belt without the fibers.
Although the fibers in the belt improve the stretch-resistance of the belt, the tendency of the belt to stretch has still remained a problem. Since the belt is typically formed from a length of material, the fibers are not continuous loops. In other words, along the length of the belt, the fibers are continuous. However, at the point where the ends of the belt are connected to one another, the fibers may be next to one another, but they are not continuous. Therefore, the weak point in a belt seems to be the point at which the ends are connected. For this reason, the focus of many attempts to reduce the problem of belt stretch have focused on manipulating the fibers at the point of connection, resulting in the development of complicated techniques for connecting the ends of the belts. Although many of these techniques have improved the problem of belt stretching, there still exists a need for providing a belt having a reduced tendency to stretch. In particular there is a need for a belt that resists stretch and is economical to produce.